Booze for Free: The Definitive Guide to Making Beer, Wines, Cocktail Bases, Ciders, and Other Drinks at Home by Andy Hamilton

Author:Andy Hamilton [Hamilton, Andy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781101602867
Publisher: A Plume Book
Published: 2013-02-25T16:00:00+00:00

Courgette and Golden Raisin Wine

Every year there is a cry across community gardens and vegetable patches around the world: “What on earth am I going to do with all these courgettes?” Packed lunch boxes have courgettes sitting inside them as a healthy alternative to chocolate bars; thinly disguised, they lurk on the plate at every meal across the summer months; I’ve even heard of people making courgette ice cream. Courgettes certainly are one of those vegetables synonymous with the word “glut.” Luckily, us wine-makers can make use of them and turn them into a fairly good dry white wine. As a wine on its own there’s not a huge amount of taste, hence the addition of bananas and golden raisins. You could also experiment with some green beans in the mix!

INGREDIENTS EQUIPMENT

3kg/6.5lb fresh courgettes small saucepan

1kg/2lb sugar fermentation bucket

2 overripe bananas 4.5-liter/1-gallon secondary

500g/1lb golden raisins airlock and bung

4 liters/4 quarts of water mincer (or sharp knife)

1 tsp citric acid siphoning tube

a thumb-sized piece of bruised ginger root

1 tsp yeast nutrient

1 Campden tablet (optional)

champagne yeast

METHOD

Chop the courgettes into 3cm (1in) pieces and put into the freezer overnight to soften. Allow to thaw, and meanwhile bring 500ml/ 2 cups of water to a boil and stir in the sugar. Mince the golden raisins (or chop finely) and add these to the water too. Set aside. Mash the banana and mix it with all the other ingredients (except the yeast) in the fermentation bucket. Cover and allow to cool to hand-hot. If using a Campden tablet, add it now. Leave overnight.

Add the yeast and leave for four days loosely covered before straining the liquid into a secondary and attaching an airlock and bung. Rack after a month and then again if needed. Allow to ferment out before bottling.

This wine will benefit from at least three months’ aging.

CRAB APPLES

Crab apples (Malus sylvestris) are the wild brothers or ancestors of our cultivated apples. Contrary to popular belief they are not all sharp and acidic; some are even good to eat straight off the tree. They are widespread throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, and the trees are anything between 4m and 12m (12ft and 40ft) tall.

Foraging for crab apples

I am sure you’ve seen a tree full of crab apples as you’ve gone about your business. Year after year that fruit sits on the trees unharvested. They mostly grow in parks and on roadsides but can sometimes be found in hedgerows and in woodlands.

Growing crab apples

See Apples (p. 197).

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.